Pocahontas (soundtrack)

Pocahontas: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released May 30, 1995
Genre Soundtrack
Length 55:08
Label Walt Disney
Producer
Walt Disney Animation Studios chronology
The Lion King
(1994)		 Pocahontas
(1995)		 The Hunchback of Notre Dame
(1996)
Singles from Pocahontas: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack
  1. "Colors of the Wind"
    Released: May 23, 1995
  2. "If I Never Knew You"
    Released: September 12, 1995
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Filmtracks[2]

Pocahontas: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the 1995 Disney animated film, Pocahontas. It was released by Walt Disney Records on May 23, 1995 on CD and audio cassette. The soundtrack contains songs from the film, including each instrumental song, written by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, and conducted by David Friedman. The main songs were performed by artists: Judy Kuhn, Mel Gibson, Linda Hunt, Jim Cummings, David Ogden Stiers, and Bobbi Page. The soundtrack features two hit singles; "Colors of the Wind" performed by Vanessa Williams, and the film's love theme song "If I Never Knew You" performed by Jon Secada and Shanice.

On August 7, 2015, in honor of the 20th anniversary of the film, a new edition of the soundtrack was released as part of the Walt Disney Records: The Legacy Collection series. The new edition includes the film's complete original soundtrack in chronological order, along with six demo recordings in a two-disc set. There are 28 tracks on disc one, and 8 tracks on disc two. This release includes the song “If I Never Knew You”, performed by Judy Kuhn and Mel Gibson in the film. The original song performed by the characters was cut from the film, and not included on the original soundtrack. The song was put back into the movie when it was re-released for the 10th anniversary of the film, and finally featured on the new edition of the soundtrack.[3]

The making of the soundtrack

The soundtrack music for Pocahontas has one of the largest and most complex scores ever written for a Disney animated film. It was the fourth Disney animated film that was composed by Alan Menken.[4] He had previously worked with lyricist Howard Ashman, who died before the making of Pocahontas. He began working with Stephen Schwartz, who became the lyricist for the soundtrack.[5]

Stephen Schwartz was recommended to Alan by people at Disney Animation Studios. On a documentary of the soundtrack, Alan says that after he thought about it he realized that Stephen's style would be perfect for the film's music because of his writing that is a brilliant combination of theater, folk, and classic. Alan said, "I just really felt that he and I would be able to find a voice that was unique to the two of us together, and we did." The first song they wrote together was "Colors of the Wind". According to Jim Pentecost, the producer of the film, the emotion of the lyrics and music for "Colors of the Wind" was very powerful and defined the movie and what it was going to be about. The song was written at the beginning stages of developing the story. Jim Pentecost said, "When Stephen came up with the title "Colors of the Wind" and developed his lyric, it helped greatly to tell us what this movie should be."[6]

Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz came together and were able to create this soundtrack based on things they felt strongly about and found a way of expressing through music. On the soundtrack documentary video, Stephen talked about how they knew what they wanted to say through the music and portray who Pocahontas was, and they were able to find the parts of themselves that met with the character of Pocahontas to create the music for the film.[7]

Track listing

The music for every song on the album was composed by the Academy Award winning composer, Alan Menken, and the lyrics were written by the Tony Award winning lyricist, Stephen Schwartz.[8]

The new edition of the soundtrack album, The Legacy Collection: Pocahontas
Side 1
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
1."The Virginia Company"  Chorus1:30
2."Ship at Sea (Score)"  Alan Menken2:34
3."The Virginia Company (Reprise)"  Mel Gibson and Chorus0:35
4."Steady as the Beating Drum (Main Title)"  Chorus1:46
5."Steady as the Beating Drum (Reprise)"  Jim Cummings0:45
6."Just Around the Riverbend"  Judy Kuhn2:27
7."Grandmother Willow (Score)"  Alan Menken1:27
8."Listen With Your Heart I"  Linda Hunt, Bobbie Page1:12
9."Mine, Mine, Mine"  David Ogden Stiers, Mel Gibson, and Chorus3:05
10."Listen with Your Heart II"  Linda Hunt, Bobbie Page2:46
11."Colors of the Wind"  Judy Kuhn3:34
12."Savages (Part 1)"  David Ogden Stiers, Jim Cummings & Chorus1:43
13."Savages (Part 2)"  Judy Kuhn, David Ogden Stiers, Jim Cummings & Chorus2:15
14."I’ll Never See Him Again (Score)"  Alan Menken1:55
Side 2
No.TitlePerformer(s)Length
15."Pocahontas (Score)"  Alan Menken1:22
16."Council Meeting (Score)"  Alan Menken1:11
17."Percy's Bath (Score)"  Alan Menken0:51
18."River's Edge (Score)"  Alan Menken1:27
19."Skirmish (Score)"  Alan Menken2:02
20."Getting Acquainted (Score)"  Alan Menken1:30
21."Ratcliffe's Plan (Score)"  Alan Menken1:47
22."Picking Corn (Score)"  Alan Menken0:55
23."The Warriors Arrive (Score)"  Alan Menken1:23
24."John Smith Sneaks Out (Score)"  Alan Menken1:14
25."Execution (Score)"  Alan Menken1:34
26."Farewell (Score)"  Alan Menken4:47
27."Colors of the Wind (End Title)"  Vanessa Williams4:17
28."If I Never Knew You (End Title)"  Jon Secada & Shanice4:13

Chart and commercial success

The film's soundtrack is probably best known for the song that serves as the film's anthem, "Colors of the Wind", which went on to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy Award. As a single, "Colors of the Wind" went on to reach #4 on the U.S. pop charts in 1995, and was one of Williams' biggest hits.

The soundtrack also won the Academy Award for Best Musical or Comedy Score, sold 2.3 million copies in the remaining two months of 1995 alone, and went on to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200.[9]

Album

Chart (1995) Peak
position
Billboard 200 1

Singles

Chart (1995) Peak
position		 Single Artist
Billboard Hot 100 4 "Colors of the Wind" Vanessa L. Williams
Hot R&B / Hip Hop Singles & Tracks 53
Australia Singles Chart 16
UK Singles Chart 21
UK Singles Chart 51 "If I Never Knew You" Jon Secada and Shanice

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Filmtracks review
  3. ↑ Reif, Alex (2015-08-19). "The Legacy Collection: Pocahontas Soundtrack Review - LaughingPlace.com". Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  4. ↑ Rosela1996 (2013-06-07), The music of Disney's "Pocahontas", retrieved 2016-07-27
  5. ↑ "Pocahontas". 2005-11-06. Retrieved 2016-07-27.
  6. ↑ Rosela1996 (2013-06-07), The music of Disney's "Pocahontas", retrieved 2016-07-27
  7. ↑ Rosela1996 (2013-06-07), The music of Disney's "Pocahontas", retrieved 2016-07-27
  8. ↑ redmorgankidd (2009-02-06), The Making of Pocahontas (1/3), retrieved 2016-07-27
  9. ↑ http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12040603 "Pocahontas"
Preceded by
HIStory by Michael Jackson		 Billboard 200 number-one album
July 22–28, 1995 		Succeeded by
Cracked Rear View by Hootie & the Blowfish
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